Love One Another
30 Days in 1st Peter - day 10
“Love one another fervently with a pure heart.”
It is not surprising to find an exhortation like this in the writings of a New Testament book. After all, Jesus Himself said that loving God and loving one’s neighbor are the two greatest commandments. Precisely because it is not unexpected, we might miss the reason Peter brings it up here.
Remember that the overriding purpose of this letter is to help Christians know how to live in times of trial and persecution. Knowing that helps us understand Peter’s intent here.
One of the first virtues we are tempted to cast aside when we are under assault is love. When we are being unfairly criticized and unjustly condemned, our natural impulse is not love but hate.
Not only that, but when we feel like we are struggling just to survive, we become self-protective and even self-absorbed. We begin to shut people out. When we are barely keeping our own head above water, the last thing we want is someone asking us for help.
It is hard to love in a world full of hate.
It would not surprise us when the dogwoods bloom in spring. But if when the snow is on the ground, and a cold north wind is blowing and we see white flowers in full bloom, we know it isn’t natural or normal. So it is with the love of God in the life of a believer during a trial. It appears where it should not naturally grow.
We might think this is an impossible standard. It is...if we have to produce it on our own. But we don’t. Peter ties this love to our conversion to Christ. Verse 23 explains how verse 22 is possible. Peter ties this love directly to our conversion. We are able to love this way because we have been “born again…through the living and abiding word of God.” The new birth creates a new capacity for love. We can love fervently because we have been born again.
And that which produced our conversion – the Word of God – never fades away or withers. So, all the burning heat of persecution and trouble cannot destroy the source that produces the fruit of love in us.
So love others fervently today, because through the new heart you have in Jesus Christ, you can.
